Ventilating range hood



Oct. 1, 1957 S. M. BERNSTEIN VENTILATING RANGE HOOD Filed March 14, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 1, 1957 s. M. BERNSTEIN VENTILATING RANGE HOOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Ilarch 14, 1956 United States This invention relates to ventilating hoods and more particularly to the type of ventilating hoods frequently used in connection With kitchen cooking ranges. Specifically the invention relates to improvements in such hoods aifording means for combining exhaust fans With the range and incorporating lighting means therein.

The use of ventilating hoods for collecting fumes to exhaust the same from an enclosure, has long been known. The use of such hoods in connection With cooking ranges in institutions and restaurants has likewise long been known. More recently, however, the use of such ventilating range hoods in individual private homes has become increasingly popular. Although such hoods may be used independently solely for the purpose of collecting cooking vapors, fumes and odors, it is obvious that their most ef ficient use is in combination With blower unit exhaust tans of the type illustrated in my co-pending application. Such a combination insures healthful ventilation and complete freedom from objectionable cooking odors, vapors, greases and the like.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the combination of an exhaust fan With a ventilating range hood is most desirable. However, heretofore such combination has been accomplished haphazardly Withut pre-designed means for combining the two units. Hence, whenever it was desired to combine a ventilating range hood With an exhaust fan, it was usually necessary to employ a skilled electrician to individually etect a combination of the two units. Such a procedure was obviously quite expensive Often in those instances where unskilled labor was employed to effect the combination, dangerously unsatisfactory wiring resulted.

Heretofore, however, even in those instances where a proper combination of the two units was accomplished, there was no provision made for convenient access to the fan controls. Likewise in view of the fact that by its very nature the hood often was so pcsitioned as to shield the top of the range from natural lighting sources, it was often necessary to provide artificial lighting. This also required installation by skilled electricians. Without the provision of readily accessible light ccntrol means, access to the same was also a problem.

Since as stated above, those hoods are merely for the purpcse of collecting fumes from the stove and expelling them through a stove pipe, attached to the hood, they need not be too sturdy. For that reason they are commonly made from a rather thin sheet material, usually metal. The hoods overlie the cooking stove or range, and consequently are rather large. This -creates a problem, particularly at the front of the hood, because it is not easy to build a large reasonably rigid hood With a large expanse of unsupported thin sheet material. This problem is accentuated by the requirement that the hood be strong enough to support a plurality of appliances such as a light source and fan. One of the objects, therefore, of this invention is to reconcile the economic requirements for a hood made from thin sheet material which Still possesses a desired amount of rigidity.

atent 2,807,994 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 A further object is to aiord a Ventilating range hood designed for ready association with an exhaust fan unit.

Yet another object is to provide a ventilating range hood having builtin lighting means.

Yet a further object is to aflord a ventilating range hood having control means for both the fan and the light mounted in readily accessible position and in full view, preferably in the foremost portion of the hood.

Still another -object is to provide a ventilating range hood having all cf the electrical wiring connected therein so that all that need be donc to complete the connection with an exhaust fan is to connect the proper wires of the ventilating range hood to the proper terminals of the fan unit. Similarly the range lighting unit is provided With proper wiring enabling ready connection of the same to the customary building power source.

Still a further object is to aford a ventilating range hood which may be readily installed With the least possible effort and skill and requiring no special tools for such installation.

Finally another important object is to provide a ventilating range hood of the type hereinabove described oi simple, inexpensive construction, yet attractive, sturdy and most useful.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will V appear as the description proc-eeds, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, arrangement and a combination of parts hereinafter fully deseribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that variOus changes in the form, proportion, size and miner details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof, from .an inspection of which, when considered in connection With the following description, rny invention, its mode of. construction, assembly and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciaed.

Referring to the drawings in which the same characters of reference are employed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout the several figures cf the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ventilating range hood installation with portions of the walls broken away to illustrate certain details of construction;

Fig.,2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of the hood showing the control panel;

Fig. 3 is a similar fragmentary view with one of the clements removed to illustrate certain details of construc tion;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the plane of lime 44 in Fig. 2 of the drawings and viewed in the direction indicated;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view as viewed from the bottom of the hood when the same is installed in operational position as in Fig. 1 of the drawings;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary secticnal detail view taken on the plane of lime 6-6 in Fig. 4 of the drawings and viewed in the direction indicated; and

Fig. 7 is another fragmentary sectional detail view taken on the plane of lime 77 in Fig. 6 of the drawings and viewed in the direction indicated.

Refcrring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, reference numeral 10 indicates generally a hood ccmprising a front wall member 14 and a straight back wall 2.8. The back wall is adapted to be secured to a fixed vertical wall 11. The top edges of the front and back Walls are connected by a top surface 12. This top surface includes a fiat top wall 24 secured at one end to back wall 28 and at the other end y. flan 2. n an. ar tcly d p r n The opposite end of this curved portion 20 is connected to a fiat portion 18 Which extends downwardly from the curvedportion and outwardl y with; respect to the wall 11. The outr end of portion 18is connected by means ofa eurvcd segmentl6 to the front wall member 14;

This front wall member, as seen in.Figg l, attends downwardly from the curved segment=l6 andinwardly toward wall Il.- End walls 26 are provided for the hood. Thetop andside edges of these end walls are seured to the front and rear walls, and the top surface of the hood. The bottom edges of the front wall memberl4 and end walls 26 are inwardlycurved to form U -shaped flanges 25, sec Fig. 4. This has the eiectof strengthening the hood and increasing its rigidity.

As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the hood 10 is mounted above the range R so that smoke, fumes,odors, grcases and the likerise in the directionindicated by the arrows and are collected bythe hood; The top;wall 24.of thehood may be provided with a: cutout portion 30'int0 which may be fitted au exhaust fan unit (net shown). Such an exhaust fan unit draws in the eollected vapors, fumes and the like and then discharges the sameby. means of suitable ducts (mot shown) to tire outsi-de atmosphere.

An electric light and an electric exhaust; fan; unit are adapted to be mounted on the hood. The control'units or switches S0, 50, 50" etc. for these appliances are mounted on a support plate 51 secured by stud screws: 5210 the inside of a protective sealed housing, indicated generally as 32. The housing comprises a strip of sheet material, in this case metal, bent to formanenclosure defined by side walls 36, a back wall 38, and a front wall 40. A bot tom wall 42 detachably connected to said housing:forms a cover plate to permit access to thecontrol switchesinside the housing. As seen in Figs. 1 and 5, the cover plate 42 has upwardly cxtending flanges 43 which embracc the bottom portions of the walls of the housing. Screws 45 penctrate the fianges of the cover plate and the walls of the housing to removably secure them together.

As seen in Fig. 4, the front and top edges of the end walls 36 are shaped to conform to the cross sectionof a portion of tire top surface 12 and front wall 14 of the hood. With this arrangement, when the enclosure is secured by means of screws 44 to that portion of the hood, the top surface and front wall of the hood; alongwitht the enclosure walls forms the sealed housing 32. Tire housing is adaptcd to protect the control switches and other electrical appliances such as a transformer 54 and fused leads 56 and 68 mounted inside, from the corrosive efleet of fumes and heat and in addition as an addcd function it strengthens the hood. This is because the housingacts as a brace betwecn the top surface and front wall of the hood. It should, of course, bc obvious that any suitable fastening means such as welding, riveting or thclike may beuscd in lieu of the screws 44 to;secure the enclosure to the hood.

In addition, the front wall 40 of the cnclosure is coextensive With a substantiai portion of the front-wall 14 of the hood to further strengthen-it. In the exarnple shown, hS portion is more than /5 of-the-length of the hood, ses Fig. 1. Since hoods of this type are generally formed of thin sheet material, usually metal; they need to-bc strengthened, particularly at their front-region,andthis structure provides this. An elongated aperture46 (Fig. 3) is formed in the front wall 14 of the hood. Portions of the control switches 50, 50", etc., project out-cf thehousing 32 and through aperture 46. Push buttons48 are connected to these portions of the control switchcs for actuating them (Figs. 2, 3 and 5). Power is supplied to the housing through leads 70 Wliil] extends into the housing at 74 through a protective hollow tube 72 (sec Fig; 4).

A panel face plate such as 58 may be providedto coverthe push button slot 46. The fact plate58 may be provided with a plurality ofindividual openingssucfr as 60 througl1 which the push buttons48 mayprotrude;

The housing 32 has still a other function. It acts as a support for both the electric light 66 and the light reflector 76. As seen in Fig. 4, a bracltet 62 is secured to the back wall of the housing 32. The electric light 66 and the light socket 64 are connected to the bracket. A conventional electric circuit (mot shown) connects an electric power source to both the electric light and the electric exhaust fan through the control switches '50, 50, 50", etc.

For the purpose of increasing the lighting efficiency of the bulb 66, a novel removablc reflector such as 76 may be provided. This reflector 76 may be formed from a strip of metal bent in the shape shown in Figs. l, 4, 6 and 7 of the drawings to afford a fiat top surface 78 with the inner protruding edge arcuately bent as at 80 and the outer ends sharply bent at an angle of to aiford a straight fiange 82. The inner arcuately bent portion 80 helps to reflcct the light forwardly to the area where it is most needed. The fiat bent flange 82 may be formed With a pair of slots such as 84 therein. These slots 84 are adapted to cooperate with complementary offset tabs 86 in the housing back wall 38 to mount and retain the-reflector in position on the housing 32.

From the drawings and foregoing description, it should be apparent that I have provided a novel highly utili tarian ventilating range hood having means for associating the same with an exhaust fart and having incorporated therein illuminating means adapted to eifectively illuminate the top of the range which would otherwise be masked from both artificial or natural' light sources. in using the same, the housewife need merely manipulate the push buttons of the switch as she stands in front of the range to control and regulate both the light and fan.

Eliminated entirely by my novel ventilating range hood are inconvenient, costly wall switchinstallations and dangerous, haphazard, oftentimcs non-standard electrical cir cuits. By reason of the foregoing, groping for hidden, hardto-reach, greasy switches is likewise eliminated.

It is believed that my invention, its mode of construction and assembly, and many of its advantages should be readilyunderstood from the foregoing without fu1ther description, and -it should also be manifest that while a preferred.embodiment of the invention has been shown and.desuibed for illustrative purposes, the structural details are nevertheless capable of wide variation within the purview of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus of the class described comprising a ventilating range hood formed of thin sheetmetal and. including at least a top surface and a dependingfront wall, said hood adapted to have appliances mounted thereon, said appliances including illuminating and reflecting means, a housing having end walls, a rear wall, a bottom wall and a front wall, the front and top edges of: said:end and back walls shaped t0 confomr to the cross section of a portion of the top surface and front walliof the hood, means securing the front wall of the housing to the front wall of said hood whereby the said portion of the top surface and the front wall of the-hood are maintained in tight engagement With the upper edges of the end and rear walls of the housing, forming a sealed housingand reinforcing thetop front portion of the hood, said hood portion having an aperture,in the front wall thereof, control switches for said illuminating means mounted in said housing, push buttons operatively connected to the control switches for actuating the same, said push buttons projecting through the front wallflof the housing and outwardly through the aperture in the front wall of the hood, a bra cket mounted on another wall of the housing, said illuminating menus mounted on said bracket for disposition within the hood adjacent the rear wall of the housing, the rear top region of the hood having another aperture through which the fumes from the range may pass, said refiecting means being mounted on the housing and positionedover the illuminating means to direct the light from the illuminating means in the desired direction.

2. An apparatus of the character described in claim 1, wherein the rear wall of the housing is formed'with a struckout tab, the reflecting means comprising a strip, the inner and of whi-ch is bent to form a downwardly vdirected flange for removable engagement with the struckventilating range hood formed of thin sheet material and including at least atop surface and a depending front wall, said hood adapted to have app]iances mounted thereon, a housing having at least and walls, a rear wall, and a bottom wall, the front and top edges of said end walls shaped to conform to the cross section of a portion of the top surface and front wall of the hood, means securing the housing to the hood whereby the said portion et? the top surface and front wall ofthe hood are maintained in tight engagement With the upper edges of the end walls of the housing thereby closing off the housing and reinforcing the top surface and front wall of the hood, control switches adapted to be connected to said appliances mounted in said housing, means connected to said control switches for selectively actuating them, a bracket mounted on une wall of the housing adapted to support a further appliance for disposition within the hood, said hood having an aperture theren through which the fumes from the range may pass.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,323,047 Goodridge Nov. 25, 1919 1,776,991 Biette Sept. 30, 1930 2,060,398 Lewke Nov. 10, 1936 2,077,496 Sonntag Apr. 20, 1937 2,249,122 Edwards July 15,,1941 

